


Ruins

by TheSourceOfAll



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Book References, F/M, Gen, Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Writing Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-30 00:41:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12642612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSourceOfAll/pseuds/TheSourceOfAll
Summary: You had spent your entire existence half dreading and half anxiously awaiting this moment. You knew there wasn’t an end to the line, not to people like you. You just went on to the great perhaps or to the west, even Aslan’s country as some of your favorite books choose to describe it.Writing Prompt: You wander through the ruins of a once mighty city. There you see a man grinning at you, wearing a rusted crown.





	Ruins

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in response to a tumblr post and decided to post it here as well. I hope you like it.

You had spent your entire existence half dreading and half anxiously awaiting this moment. You knew there wasn’t an end to the line, not to people like you. You just went on to the great perhaps or to the west, even Aslan’s country as some of your favorite books choose to describe it. Your lips smiled, knowing that the pain would cease, a new adventure would begin, a new challenge.

You were a child of the earth, born to wonder the infinite lands in between the dawn of day and the endless night. You were so close, you could feel it in your skin, taste it in the air. Earth beckoning you to rest now. The breeze caressed your face. You could let go now, it was time to go home. And yet, your heart resisted, your eyes burned with the force of its determination. Not yet, your heart said with each beat, not today.

But there are greater forces on the earth than that of ourselves. Forces that teased and tugged and you could see it now. The great ruins of the lost city. The sign that you had done your duty, had honored those who came before you. Flowers bloomed all around you, moss and vines covered stones and trees with the best fruits anyone could ever find.

You remembered Thor’s confusion when you’d described your home. The Asgardian had been so certain that that ruins were a place of mourning, of desolation. You had smiled and informed him that there was nothing anyone could create that nature couldn’t do better. You wished you could show it to him, that there was life all around it and that refused to give in to whims of men, be they mortal or gods.

**You wander through the ruins of a once mighty city. There you see a man grinning at you, wearing a rusted crown.** You return the grin. The path is clear to you and so you take your first steps but you hesitate. There’s a voice calling to you and your heart twists in your chest. There is so much pain when he calls your name and you can’t help but want to console him, to take his pain away. “It’s ok” You whisper, your eyes on the man ahead of you.

He seems to understand your hesitance and finds a rock to sit on. “It will be ok now” Your voice carries even if you cannot see the one who is hurting.

“Please, don’t give up. There’s help on the way. Please don’t leave me” Your body is consumed by pain but the voice seems closer. There are others with him and you wonder why you were unable to hear them before.

“Bucky, she is off to the Other Lands now” The other voice murmurs “You must let her go” There is something to his voice, a tone of someone, someone who has accepted their fate in the world even if it doesn’t please him to do so.

“No, she can’t go. Please don’t leave me, Y/N. I can’t, I can’t do this without you.” You wish you could hold him, that you could show him that the Other Lands is a good place. “Please don’t go where I can’t follow” He whispers near your ear and you turn trying to find him.

You have to find him. You have to make it better, no one should suffer like this. How can you leave someone is such pain? You have to do something, anything. Maybe you could take him with you, maybe if you could show him, he wouldn’t suffer so much. Find Bucky.

“Yes, doll, I’m here.” He replies. “Come back to me, love. Come back” You try to reach out to him, to Bucky. You briefly wonder who he is? Why does his sorrow affect you so much? You’ve seen many people suffer in your travels. It’s important to know sorrow so one can learn to value joy, everything needs balance. Nothing has ever tugged at your heartstrings like his pain before, at least not that you can remember.

You try to remember; it’s like fighting against a current, but if you could just push a little harder. Just a bit farther, you think. “If you do this, there won’t be a way back for quite some time”

When did he get so close? You didn’t expect him to come to you. You can’t remember that having happened before.

“He’s in pain, if I could just-”

“Suffering is part of life Y/N, he will heal” You can see now that the rusty crown wasn’t rusty at all, it reminds you of copper and, and Steve’s paintings!  Your musings are interrupted by Bucky’s voice. “No, let go, Y/N! Y/N love, come back to me, please baby, just come back, please! She’s not, she’s coming back, I know she is.” Tears stream down your face.

 “with time” The man with a crown adds sadly.

“How am I supposed to leave him like this?” You pace around him. There has to be something you can do.

“You have to if you want to go home” He walks away, surely expecting you to follow but you don’t, you can’t. Bucky needs you.

“Can I bring him with me?” I can feel my hands shaking, my whole body. The man stops, only now noticing that you haven’t moved. He shakes his head. “how am I supposed to leave, how can I live with myself if I do?”

“You forget” It makes it sound so simple, as if just by hearing those words you aren’t consumed by panic.

“Please don’t go where I can’t follow” Bucky whispers once more. You mind flashes to images of you and a man snuggled together on a sofa eating popcorn. They were so happy, we were so happy.

“No, I’m not ready, I, I need to think, I need Bucky, I can’t just-” The man watches you from a distance as you collapse in pain. Why are you in so much pain? Your vision begins to darken as you look at him. You try to ask him what is happening but no words leave your mouth. The man waves at you just before your vision blacks out.

 

   ********

You wake up to a bipping sound and would probably break something if you weren’t so tired. There’s a hand running through your hair and you hum in appreciation. “Welcome back, doll” Bucky, because you would recognize that voice anywhere, kisses your forehead.

Back where? You want to ask but instead you ask. “Did someone get the plate of the truck that ran me over?” Priorities. Bucky laughs.

“More like a building” He mutters, burrying his face in your neck.

“A building ran me over?” You frown trying to understand the logistics of it. Bucky kisses your neck before moving away.

“I love you so much, Y/N. Please don’t scare me like that again.” There’s something familiar in his tone.

“I love you too” You mutter, trying to remember where you heard that before. “You know, I had the weirdest dream” You open my eyes with a sudden need to see him.

“Yeah” He says fiddling with a button, probably trying to get a hold of the doctor.

“Yeah” I smile. Bucky looks like a mess. Eyes bloodshot, bags underneath, he hasn’t shaved in far too long, his clothes are twisted and in serious need of ironing but he’s smiling, the cheeky smile that you love so much.

“Want to tell me about it? Before the Avengers descend on this place?” He places his hand above yours interlacing your fingers together.

“I dreamed that I died and you kept quoting Sam from Lord of The Rings to me, trying to get me back.” You tell him, closing your eyes now that you can feel him close again. You don’t see the smile slowly disappear from his face.

Thor and Bucky had discussed what had happened, how you had died, had been dead for about twenty minutes. Twenty minutes in which Bucky had gone mad with grief and refused to let go of you. Bucky had been the first one to find you, followed by Thor. The others had taken upon themselves to eliminate all hostiles in the area before coming to Thor’s aid. There were talks of getting Bucky to see more psychologists but Bucky had refused to leave your side since you had gone out of surgery and wouldn’t talk to anyone else when they came to visit you.

HYDRA had managed to destroy Stark Tower and you happened to be in the garage, so far you were the only survivor. “That’s crazy, love. There are better movies to quote from.” Bucky forced his voice not to waiver.

“Blasphemy” You accused.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I originally intended to kill the reader buy Bucky in pain was breaking my heart.


End file.
